


The Missed Conversations

by greeny1710



Series: The Chaotic Trio verse [9]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Angst, Dialogue Heavy, Heavy Angst, M/M, Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24036547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeny1710/pseuds/greeny1710
Summary: Set concurrently with Protect Me Big Brother, this is the conversations Charles didn't see, didn't know, and never expected someone to have
Relationships: Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen, Kimi Räikkönen/Sebastian Vettel
Series: The Chaotic Trio verse [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1594924
Comments: 60
Kudos: 99





	1. Charlotte & Daniel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very reliant on ‘Protect Me Big Brother’ and knowing sort of what happened in there to understand the conversations happening here. It’s going to take on different characters and conversations and look at the different ways in which people noticed and talked about what was going on with Charles. 
> 
> It’s going to have all the same sort of warnings as Protect Me, but there will be no graphic descriptions of the physical, verbal or sexual abuse, aside from discussions of it towards the latter chapters. 
> 
> This first chapter uses Chapter 5, and focuses on Charlotte going to talk to Dan after Charles left with Mick :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy x

Charles always said bye to Charlotte. 

He always hugged her.

He’d always kiss her cheek and tug on her plait and she’d playfully smack his arm.

And yet, when she watched Charles trail after Mick without question, something felt off. 

Talking to Max wouldn’t work, and Charlotte didn’t know where Valtteri was, but she could hear Dan’s voice echoing down the corridor, and maybe he was the better option. He was more disconnected from Charles, and Charlotte really couldn’t count the number of times that Charles had rang her complaining about Dan, especially since he’d started dating Max a few weeks ago. But maybe talking to Dan was the right thing to do. Charlotte didn’t know him too well, but they’d had a laugh over the years and Charlotte had done cheerleading for a couple of years and had got to know Dan a bit through that. And he’d always been super kind and funny, and he really was one of the nicest people regardless of what Charlotte said. 

Still, it was a little nerve wracking going to find Dan to ask to talk to him. He was the school’s Golden Boy, and combined with Max, they really were becoming the power couple of the school. The jock and the nerd. They were every Highschool stereotypical story, and yet they worked because Dan was the kind of guy that kept people safe.

Charlotte wandered into the cafeteria and prayed that Max was still too nervous to hang out in the cafeteria. She didn’t know how she’d be able to pull Dan away without trying to work out how to not bring Max along with him. 

But thankfully, Dan was alone, stood in the queue to buy breakfast and dancing as he talked to two of his friends. 

Charlotte wandered through the line, squeezing through the crowd to fall beside Daniel.

“Hey Dan,” Charlotte smiled, nudging the older boy.

“Hey Charlotte, how you doing m’lady?” Dan asked, tilting his head as though he had a hat on. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m good. Can I borrow you for a second? I just need your help with something.”

Dan was still bopping as he grinned at her, nodding before saying,

“Aye, of course. Gimme a second to get some toast and a coffee and then I’m all yours, Charlotte.”

Charlotte smiled and wandered back out of the line. 

Waiting for Dan didn’t take too long, and Charlotte scrolled on her phone as she waited. Dan nudged her when he was done, passing across another coffee.

“For you,” Dan mumbled around the toast in his mouth. 

“Thank you,” Charlotte took the coffee into her hands and Dan motioned for her to lead the way. 

They ended up sitting on the bottom step of the stairs in an empty stairwell, their coffees placed beside them as Dan munched on his toast. 

“What’s up, then? What can I help with?”

Charlotte sighed and thought about how to word it, before just saying ‘fuck it’. 

“Have you noticed anything weird about Charles lately?” She asked.

Dan frowned, took another bite of his toast, and then shook his head.

“Not really. Nothing out of the ordinary, anyway, why?”

“I just, he seems like he’s acting odd lately, and I don’t know if I’m just being oversensitive or looking too much into it, but it’s weird. And I don’t know what to do about it.”

“In what way is he acting weird?”

“I don’t really know which is why it’s really hard to explain. But like, he’s quieter, and yet snappier. And I know Charles isn’t exactly the easiest person to get along with, and he’s so neurotic, but it’s odd. He’s never like this with me.”

Daniel laughed slightly and nodded.

“Yeah you’re not wrong, he’s definitely a very, erm, _unique_ person, to say the least. There’s no one quite like Charles on this planet.”

“And I tried talking to him about fashion college and encouraging him to do it at uni, but he just shut it all down. And normally, yeah he doesn’t want to talk about it, but he’s never normally that sharp with me about these things. And it just felt weird. Like there was something off about him.”

Dan nodded, pursed his lips for a second and said, 

“I’ll have a talk to him, see what’s going on, if you seriously think there’s something up.”

Charlotte was about to say thank you, to praise Daniel for not instantly shutting her down and telling her she was imagining things that weren’t there, until he cut her off.

“I’ll see if it’s because of me and Max actually,” Dan seemed to realise “We had a little argument the other day about the fact that he doesn’t like me and I said he’s a shit brother, so I’ll just see if it’s because of me and Max being a think, or whether it’s just him being him. You know how dramatic and self-centred he can get when it’s not about him.”

Charlotte nodded, and shrugged, Dan draining half of his coffee as Charlotte murmured,

“There was one other thing too…”

Daniel let Charlotte mull it over quietly for a second, her finger flicking her braid back and forth as she took a sip of her own coffee.

“The new kid,” she quietly asked, “Do you know anything about him?”

“Not really,” Dan admitted with a shrug, “I know Max thinks he’s a bit weird and I think he had an issue with him at one point, but I’ve not really heard anything about him to be honest, been a bit quiet from what I understand.”

“I don’t know if it’s connected, like you said Charles is very, well, Charles. He’s hard to describe. But we was coming out of textiles just before break, and we’re laughing and joking and I’d been winding him up about you and Max, asking what it was like to be the brother of the guy who is dating the hottest guy in school, like he’d been so normal. And the new kid’s there, stood outside our class, leaning against the wall. I think it’s Mick? Is his name Mick?”

“Yeah, Mick yeah.”

“Well, he was stood there, and he goes ‘I need to borrow you Charlie, come with me a sec’. And Charles just followed him. Without any question. Without even saying ‘don’t call me Charlie.” And I don’t know if he’s sleeping with him, or in some kind of debt to him, or what, but the way Charles just sort of dropped, it was weird. And I don’t trust this Mick, and whatever he’s doing to Charles, it’s _weird_ , I don’t know how to describe it.”

Dan nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, gently rubbing his hand up and down her arm as he said, 

“I’ll have an ask around, I’m sure it’s nothing though. You know what it’s like with Charles, he’s sucked everyone’s dick and fucked everyone’s girlfriend. Mick probably heard and wants some of it, but I’ll check things are cool, but, seriously, don’t worry about it Charlotte. You know Charles. If something was happening, that dramatic little shit would be screaming it to everyone who could possibly listen. He loves an audience after all.”

Charlotte had to admit Dan had a point. Charles did love being the centre of attention.

“Yeah, yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m just worried he’s hiding things and is going to end up doing something bad just to prove a point you know?”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Like I said, I’m sure it’s fine, but just keep an eye on him and if you think somethings up, either have a word with him and just check things are cool, or let me know and I’ll talk to Max and his dads and Valtteri, see if they’ve noticed anything or whether he’s said something to one of them.”

“Thank you, Dan. I’m sorry to dump this on you, but I didn’t want to stress Max out. I know how nervous and anxious he gets and I didn’t want to stress him out over probably nothing, you know?”

“Yeah, it’s fine Charlotte, don’t worry, I’ll sort it out, yeah?”

Daniel drew Charlotte into a hug, and Charlotte sighed. Daniel was warm where he cradled her, and she understood why Charles had said Max seemed so much happier when with Dan. He had the kind of presence that told you he’d keep you safe, that no matter what he was going to be there fighting your corner. Maybe that’s why Charlotte had picked him to talk to. 

Admittedly Max would’ve been too nervous, and Valtteri scared her a bit, but when it came to Charles they were the most important people to him. 

But Dan was different. He was the outsider, and Charlotte could only hope that he was right when he said that it was probably nothing. 

Charles was a good person. Well, most of the time. Charlotte saw a side of him that few others did, and Charles was good. He just didn’t know how to show it fully. 

Charlotte could only hope Daniel would show him how to be a good person and smile more. Charles was beautiful when he smiled and he needed to do it more. His smirks and that dejected expression on his face were becoming too commonplace, and Charlotte dreaded the day that they became the only emotion Charles would portray. 

But honestly, what worried Charlotte more was the fact that Charles hadn’t gone kicking and screaming when Mick called him ‘Charlie’. 

It was so unlike him. 

Surely it was nothing…

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte is the good bean we all deserve
> 
> Kudos, comments and feedback always greatly appreciated❤️
> 
> Tumblr is at 3303andmore if you wanna come and yell about how beautiful Charlotte Sine is with me


	2. Mick & Daniel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Focusing on Chapter 5 again with this one, only this time talking about when Mick and Dan had a brief encounter. 
> 
> **Content Warning: homophobic and derogatory language, mentions of abuse**

“Hey, new kid, you got a second?”

Great, Mick thought, just what he needed. 

The resident school golden boy who couldn’t keep a fucking smile to himself or his hands off that stupid freak of a boyfriend. 

“Sure,” Mick smiled, turning on his heel and smiling at him, “What’s up?”

“You know my boyfriend, right? Max?”

“Er, yeah, yeah, I think so, had a couple of chats with him I think. Is he the one that’s always around that really hot kid? The one with dark hair?” 

God Mick’s stomach was turning at the implication that that little _whore_ could be hot. He was a little slut. How anyone could find that stupid impish face ‘hot’ was a fucking mystery. 

“Yeah, my boyfriend is the blonde one. The hot one, as you call him, that’s his twin brother, Charles.”

Mick nodded and forced a grin onto his face as he said,

“Is this you going all over-protective boyfriend and warning me away from your boy? Don’t worry, you don’t need to. I’m not interested in Max. Charles, however, he seems cool.”

Fuck, the idea of touching either of them made Mick want to throw up. 

He didn’t want a fucking disease like those two whores did. 

Little fucking fags the pair of them. 

They’d probably been the one to inflict it on this one. This guy looked _normal_. He didn’t look fucking gay. 

“What? Oh, no, no, nothing like that,” he grinned, “Oh, I’m Daniel, by the way. Daniel Ricciardo.”

“Mick Schumacher,” he offered back, shaking his hand when ‘Daniel’ offered it. Like he didn’t already know who this idiot was.

“Schumacher? That a German name?”

“Yeah, my Dad moved us here for his job.”

“Ah, same as my boy and his family then. Is that why you were talking to Max?” Daniel still had a peaceful expression on his face but Mick knew that look behind his eyes. 

That was the look his father gave him when he was expecting Mick to lie about how that girl who bullied his sister ended up with a black eye. The look that fooled you into a false sense of security and had you admit everything. But Mick knew better than to fall for that trap.

“Ah, no, nothing like that. We were just talking about German. With us both being German and then studying it for A-Levels, I was just getting some advice from him. Your boy is very smart, and I was told that if I needed anything to ask him. He’s really kind, such a nice boy to talk to and get help from,” Mick lied easily. 

He’d never forget the look of pure resignation on _Max’s_ face when Mick had pushed his bag off his shoulder. And the look in his eyes when Mick had pinned him to the wall, so close to crushing his windpipe if he’d have just tried hard enough. Max hadn’t even seemed bothered, as though if Mick had killed him it would’ve been a blessing. And when he’d got to punch that stupid little face, God, Mick wished that no one had pulled him off. It was liberating getting to batter the shit out of the very family that ruined his fucking life. 

It was almost hilarious the way that the boy had no qualms about fucking dying. 

It was _actually_ hilarious that the stupid slut of a brother was even more open to doing whatever he could possibly take to keep that _freak_ safe. 

Why he bothered, Mick would never know. 

They were disgusting, worthless little orphans and they didn’t deserve shit, and yet all they ever fucking got was the entire world because their Daddy knew who he had to get on his knees for.

Fucking sluts

“Oh cool, yeah Max is really smart, it’s insane. He’s so clever, honestly never met anyone quite like him,” Daniel looked so disgustingly in love with him. God they were horrific. 

“Yeah definitely, very smart indeed,” Mick forced a smile onto his face. 

He was only fucking smart because Daddy sucked off people to get these boys their £20 grand a year education. The bastard took too many pro bono cases in which clients didn’t pay him but rather he did it ‘out of the goodness of his heart’ to be able to afford these shits their education without getting favours from elsewhere. 

Stupid fucking prick thinking he was better than them. 

He wasn’t. 

The entire fucking family would crash and burn and Mick would be fucking laughing when he watched it crumble.

“Anyway, er, about Charles. Charlotte said you knew him?”

Charlotte must’ve been that gorgeous girl beside the slut when he’d come out of class. 

Shame that she seemed to care about him. She could do better than hanging around with a dickhead like the _Vettel_ kid. 

She’d do better with a real man like himself. 

“Yeah, we talk, why?”

“He’s been quiet lately, just wondering if you know what’s up? I mean, are you guys mates or dating or, you know, anything?”

Oh, the little fucking brat

“Well, yeah, I mean I wouldn’t say we’re friends, I’ve only just started at school after all. But he’s really cool and I like him. And he’s really hot so how can you not want to be friends with him, you know what I mean?”

Daniel laughed but it seemed almost forced. 

“I know he’s got a reputation but-”

“I’m not that kind of guy,” Mick smiled. He also wasn’t the kind of guy that was a fucked-up freak who sleeps with other boys, but his father had told him to stop saying that.

“He’s been a bit lonely lately, I think. We just hang out, talk, you know how it is. He knows what it’s like being the new kid in a place where you’ve got a weird accent and everyone stares at you. I know people look at _him_ because he’s hot and they stare at me because I’m new, but it’s nice to not feel so alone, you know what I mean?”

Whatever Mick said seemed to placate Daniel slightly and he smiled a bit brighter. Disgusting. 

“Yeah, Charles is funny. He’s a great kid just a bit hard to deal with sometimes, you know? You gotta be careful with him.”

“Oh yeah, it’s just nice to have someone to talk to.”

Fucking talk. 

Yeah, Mick didn’t talk to whores like him. 

Whatever Charlie-boy got, Charlie-boy deserved. 

Every fucking smack, punch, bruise and whatever else the little shit got he should’ve been grateful for. There weren’t many people around willing to show fuckers like him how to be a real man and take the pain. Mick was doing him a favour. The kid should be fucking grateful not running off to this prick and spilling shit. 

“I do look out for him, you know? And I just noticed he’s been a bit off, but if you’re saying he’s okay-”

“I’ll talk to him. I know he’s mentioned his brother before, maybe he’s just feeling a bit lost or he’s horny and jealous. You know what teenage boys are like,” Mick grinned and Daniel did laugh slightly. 

“Yeah I guess,” Dan smiled but there was something in his eyes that Mick didn’t trust, “He’s my boyfriend’s brother, you know. I keep an eye on him the same way I do my boy.”

“I’m the same with my sister. Her best friend basically lived with us in Germany, so I got used to keep an eye on her because it made my sister happy,” Mick placated and Daniel nodded slowly. 

“Yeah, yeah you get it. It’s just, you know, I don’t want Charles to go through shit, you know?”

“Honestly, it’s fine, and you’re probably just making a mountain out of a molehill. I’ll talk to him. I think it’s about Max and he’d probably just lie to you and say it’s nothing if it’s about Max, wouldn’t he?”

“Yeah he would. I know he doesn’t exactly like me so he probably would lie. But yeah, that’s cool, you talking to him, sounds good,” Daniel held out his hand again and pulled Mick into a bro-hug and murmured, “Don’t fuck him over.”

Mick pulled away and gave Dan a look of pure innocence. 

The same look he’d become accustomed to using as he grew up when his teachers were about to ask him why Luca or Dominik or Michelle was crying and blaming him for shoving them over in the yard. 

Fucking cry baby little shits. 

“I would never do that to him, I want to be his friend,” Mick ‘promised’. 

Daniel looked into his eyes for a moment and then nodded. 

“Okay, that’s fine then. Just make sure you talk to him, and I’ll see you around, yeah?” Dan said, slowly backing off to probably go find that slut of a boyfriend so he could get his dick sucked. 

“Yeah, bye Daniel,” Mick agreed. 

He didn’t care where that fucker was going. Mick needed to go and find the little slut and get him to call his fucking guard dog off. 

Ricciardo couldn’t ruin shit.

That Vettel fucker needed teaching a lesson. 

He needed to learn the world didn’t revolve around him simply for his surname. 

Stupid little fucking slut. 

Charles taking his brothers place was definitely the right thing and Mick couldn’t believe that he’d been so naïve to think that Max was the one he should’ve gone for. 

Clearly Max had this Ricciardo fucker wrapped around his little finger. 

No. 

It had to be Charles. 

It’s what the whore deserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you know how many times I wrote Max instead of Mick during this?? 
> 
> SO MANY TIMES. 
> 
> But either way, this was so hard to do writing from Mick's perspective and I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless - well, you can't really enjoy Mick's perspective in this verse can you.. well... either way...
> 
> kudos, comments and feedback always greatly appreciated❤️
> 
> Tumblr is at 3303andmore if you want to scream about how awful Mick Schumacher is in this in comparison to how lovely he seems IRL


	3. Max, Sebastian & Kimi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on Max and Charles' argument in Chapter 6 and the resulting conversation their parents have with Max following it

God Charles made it so easy to want to punch him in the fucking face sometimes.

Listening to him spew all that bullshit just because him and Dan were happy?

What a total wanker.

Dan was just being _nice_ about him, talking about how helpful Max was, and Charles had to be a jealous little shit who made everything about him all the fucking time. 

He couldn’t just let Max be happy, could he?

And then for him to imply that Dan was going to leave him? Wow, thanks Charles. Way to hit on every single little insecurity Max had.

He was already terrified that Dan was going to leave him, to find someone better and run off with them. Someone who didn’t phone him up at 2am crying with panic attacks or who got sweaty palms holding his hand at school. Daniel was fucking gorgeous and he could have anyone. He wouldn’t settle for someone like Max and Max was simply waiting for the penny to drop. 

But Charles didn’t care, did he?

He was too busy sleeping with anything with a pulse and being pissed that the last notch on his bed couldn’t be completed with Daniel.

And Max had fucking had enough of always having to compete with his twin brother for everything.

For once Max was better.

Daniel whispered a ‘don’t’ at him as he started to call Charles out for his behaviour, for constantly trying to sleep with Dan and for being jealous about getting ditched because someone preferred Max for once in their stupid little existence. 

_“Well grow up, Charles. I’m not you. I’m not completely unlovable.”_

The room fell silent as his family processed Max’s words, his parent’s jaws dropping and Charles staring emotionlessly at him until he was laughing humorlessly as Max. 

_“Cool, thanks for that Max. You really know how to make a person feel good, you fucking freak.”_

Charles stood up abruptly, letting his chair slam to the floor behind him as he walked off.

“Daniel,” Sebastian quietly said, “I’m very sorry about this, but is it okay if you go home? We need to have a chat with Max and he’s going to be grounded afterwards.”

“No problem Seb, thank you for dinner,” Daniel said and Max pulled his feet up onto the chair, hugging his legs and burying his face in his knees as shakily breathed.

“Hey, Max?” Daniel murmured, squatting down beside Max’s chair and rubbing his hand over Max’s shin, “I’ll see you at school, yeah?”

Max nodded but refused to take his head out his knees. 

“Alright baby, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Dan told him, standing and brushing a kiss over Max’s hair before he left. 

“Valtteri, can you see Dan out please and then go to your room?” Sebastian asked and Max really wanted to just burst into tears at the calm but saddened tone of his Dad’s voice. 

He’d never heard his Dad sound so damn disappointed in him and right now Max would take that Mick kid pushing him around all over again if it just meant that his Dad wasn’t disappointed in him. 

Yes, he’d wanted to hurt Charles, of course he did. That’s what they did what they did. They hurt each other so as not to hurt others. 

But Charles had cut too close to the bone tonight, picking up on Max’s fears of not being enough and Daniel leaving him one day. And for Charles to imply that Daniel didn’t care, that he didn’t know anything about Max _hurt_. Max was trying his fucking best to open up to Dan, to let himself be vulnerable and hope it was enough, and Dan noticed a lot of things. He wanted to help Max and look after him. 

And he didn’t need his perfect fucking brother to try and swipe Dan away from right under his nose.

“What the hell was that all about, Max?” Sebastian sighed and Max simply shrugged.

“No, Max. Don’t you shrug at me. I asked you a question, what the hell are you playing at?”

“I don’t fucking know, is that what you want me to say? I tore the shit out of my brother because he tells my boyfriend that he’s going to leave me. Why am I the bad guy for being angry at that?”

“Because you don’t call your brother unlovable! You don’t tell him to grow up. And you don’t ever imply that he’s not good enough. Daniel cares about you. He doesn’t care about Charles.”

“Yeah but Charles cares about him. Charles cares that I got Dan and he didn’t.”

“No kid, he doesn’t, he doesn’t want Dan. He never wanted Dan.” Kimi interjected, rubbing his hand over Seb’s thigh to try and calm him to stop him going full lawyer on their barely seventeen year old son. 

Not that Max would care if he did. 

“You’re not at school, you don’t hear the shit people say-”

“Will you watch your language, seriously, Max. You can’t be swearing every other word.”

“No one cares but you!” Max argued back, “Literally no one gives a _fuck_. My own fucking brother tells my boyfriend to leave me, that I’m not enough for him, and you think I’m the bad guy?”

“You’re the bad guy because you don’t say stuff like that, Max. You can’t just call your brother unlovable because he’s not interested in relationships. Sure, we don’t like him sleeping around, but he’s doing what he wants. You can’t call him unlovable for his life decisions. Funnily enough, Max, the world doesn’t revolve around you.”

“I’m not saying it does,” Max muttered, slumping in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest, “But do you know how _fucking_ tired I am of trying to stop them two arguing all the time? That I can’t even leave them alone for ten seconds before Charles is starting shit with Dan? I just want my boyfriend and my brother to get along, and Charles isn’t making a single ounce of effort. I’m not going to apologise for calling him out on it!”

Sebastian took a deep breath and looked over at Kimi. 

“I get that you’re annoyed, Max, I really do,” Kimi told him, “But you can’t call Charles names for looking out for you. You don’t see what he’s like when you’re not around. When you’re fast asleep coming home in the car because you’ve had a panic attack at school and he won’t take his eyes of you _just in case_. When you were in the hospital, the amount of times that whoever was at home woke up the next morning and Charles was lying beside us holding Tommy, you didn’t see how scared he was. I get it, Max. I know you’re mad at him. But he’s still your brother. And you can’t do that to him.”

Max slumped further down into his seat and dropped his legs down, bouncing his knee insessently as he tried to calm down. 

“Your brothers love you, Max, they do. But you’re the one that’s pushing them away.”

“Because they don’t give a shit about Dan.”

“You have been with him a month, Max. Give them time.”

“I don’t want to. This is the first time I’ve ever felt normal. The pure fucking happiness I’ve felt since I got with Dan, I haven’t that since I was a little kid. You don’t get what it’s like being stuck in my head. Trying to not focus on the fact that I am convinced that Dan is pulling some elaborate joke on me. And every single time Charles says something, that little knot pulls tighter. I am convinced that Dan doesn’t love me, that he never will, that he’s only dating me for a bet. And Charles saying that Dan doesn’t care, pulls on that. I am not the bad guy for being angry that my brother is doing that.”

“No, you’re not, Max,” Sebastian told him and Max looked up sharply at him, “You’re the bad guy for your behaviour. You can’t be angry at Charles for trying to protect you when you won’t have a civil conversation with him. Fuck, Max, you two have always argued, that’s what you do. You will argue and fight and scream at each other until the end of time, but you always _talked_. What changed, hm?"

Max shrugged but didn't stop staring at his Dad.

"I can tell you, Max. Dan. He changed things.”

“How is this Dan’s fault?”

“You’re terrified of him leaving you, so you’re changing to be better for him. Which is great, you’re getting more confident, you’re sleeping better, you’re spending less time alone. But you’re also getting an attitude, and that’s not okay. I get that you’re stressed and I get that you’re nervous, but you can’t take it out on Charles. He’s still a person too, Max, he’s not your emotional punching bag.”

Max looked down at his lap and nodded softly. 

“I know.”

“You going to apologise to Charles, hm?”

“I will.”

“And have a talk to Dan about you feeling insecure?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you throwing a strop right now?”

“Kinda.”

“Grounded for the rest of the week, okay?” Kimi told him and Max looked up sharply. 

“I’m going to go and check on Charles,” Sebastian said, rising from the table and leaving Max with Kimi.

“Why the rest of the week? I always stay with Dan after school on Thursdays.”

“Exactly, and you’re not this week. You fucked up, Max. And if your Dad convinces Charles to come downstairs, you’re going to talk to him. But don’t bank on it. You messed up. So stop pretending that you’re the Golden Boy who can’t do anything wrong. You may not get in trouble at school but it doesn’t mean you’re immune to getting told off at home. When you mess up, you get punished, exactly the same way your brothers do.”

“How mad do you think he is at me?”

“Really mad. I honestly think you’ve pushed it too far this time.”

He’d expected to hear his isä say that, but it still hurt when he said it. 

“Do I go and apologise to him?”

“Not yet, wait for your Dad to come back and then see what happens, okay?”

Max nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Daniel💙   
  
I’m sorry   
  
Things alright?   
  
Grounded for the rest of the week, Charles won’t talk to me, and I feel like shit   
  
So no. it’s not alright   
  
I’m sorry baby   
  
I hope you guys can sort things out soon   
  
Sorry if I caused any of it   
  
You didn’t   
  
It’s me being insecure again   
  
I just need to sort things with Charles   
  


“Charles doesn’t want to talk to you,” Sebastian said as he came back in, and Max dropped his phone again, “In fact, his exact words were he wants to punch you in the face until you can’t see anymore. So, I think it’s safe to say your brother is very mad at you.” 

“What do I do?”

“Leave him alone. Go to your room, do some work, no facetiming or texting Dan, and just leave Charles alone, okay?” Sebastian told him and Max nodded shakily. 

“I’m really sorry.”

“Just go to your room Max,” Sebastian told him and Max nodded.

He grabbed his water bottle and headed upstairs, slumping down against his door and burying his head in his hands. Grabbing his blanket off the bed, Max wrapped it around him and curled on the floor, letting the carpet tickle his cheek and closed his eyes. 

All he could see was the pure resignation on Charles’ face. 

And Max hated it so fucking much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All this fic is doing is reminding me just how much these little shits failed to communicate effectively...
> 
> also I finally finished my second year of uni, my last essay is getting submitted in a couple of hours, and so?? be prepared for more regular uploads I guess lmao
> 
> Kudos, comments and feedback always greatly appreciated❤️
> 
> Tumblr is at 3303andmore if you wanna yeet about the boys being idiots with me lmao


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